Training a Whippet to Sit and Stay

Rest assured, training a whippet to sit and stay is possible!

How can they teach a dolphin or a killer whale to perform those amazing stunts and tricks? There is no way to physically force them to obey a command or to punish them for incorrect behavior.

Professional animal trainers found that the only effective way is the positive approach to training.

Rewarding the wanted action and ignoring everything else is much more efficient than training with traditional methods focused on punishment.

Clicker training builds a bond and becomes an efficient bridge of communication between people and animals.

During a session of dog clicker training a little device, a clicker, is used to produce a distinct sound that marks clearly the wanted action.

The first step is to teach the pet to associate the click with food rewards. Then, the click is used to mark the required action.

Clicker training is especially successful for whippets, hounds and independent thinkers that don’t like to bend to authority but happily accept a leader if gently guided.

Learning this new approach to dog training often changes also the way people think and act in their ordinary lives.

Focusing on positive reinforcement not only helps people to live and communicate with animals but can also promote a new way of thinking and a more open attitude toward other people.

Training your Whippet to Sit

Training your dog to sit is a basic and very useful obedience exercise. It will give you more control over your pet when meeting people and will make an overall more polite companion.

Whippets like most sighthounds don’t seem to appreciate the sitting position, they prefer laying down and snooze or be up and running.

Nevertheless, whippets too can be taught to sit and this eventually will become their way to ask for treats and praise.

Here is in few easy steps how to teach your whippet to sit with dog clicker training.

Step 1

Begin by giving your dog treats after clicking, this will teach your whippet to associate a click with a reward.

Then, with the dog in front of you, show him a treat and move it up and over his head. To follow your hand he will eventually have to sit.

If he moves backward, position him with his back to a wall.

Step 2

As soon as his bottom touches the floor, click to mark the wanted action, give him the treat and praise.

Step 3

Only when he begins to associate the treat over his head with the sitting position, start using the word “sit”.

When your dog sits reliably on command reduce the food rewards to keep him guessing and his attention alive.

Whippets are smart and soon they will learn that the polite way to ask for something is sitting first.

Teaching your Whippet to Stay

This exercise will prevent your puppy from jumping out of the car door or get himself into dangerous situations.

To teach your dog this command, make him sit and placing the palm of your hand in front of his nose ask him to stay in a calm voice.

If he stands or moves, place him again in position.

At the beginning make him stay for few seconds then praise, release him with a word like “OK” and give him a treat.

Proceeding in the training you can prolong the stay and start moving away from the dog at an increasing distance.

To add interest, you can walk around the dog while asking him to stay.

Proceeding in your whippet training start practicing with distractions like other dogs or people.

Here is free dog training video to teach your dog to stay.

Always practice in traffic free area, keep in mind that in whippets the prey drive is very strong and a moving animal like a cat or a squirrel could be too tempting to mind the traffic.